EDITOR'S NOTE: The Citizen sports columnist Leo Pinckney is taking the week off.
The Auburn High School Athletic Hall of Fame inducted a new class last night, the fifth one since the Hall was created in 2001.
That first class included former Auburn High football coaches Bob Dean and Bob Adams. Both were special men who coached hundreds of players over five decades.
Now it looks like some of their former players are going to wage a turf war over the field where both men coached the Maroons.
The issue is the field's name, or lack of one. The stadium itself is already named for former Auburn High player Dr. Jerome “Brud” Holland, who after starring for the Maroons in the 1930s, was a college All-American at Cornell and a U.S. ambassador and college president.
There has been a recent trend of naming playing surfaces after the stadium's name has already been taken. So we have the Jim Boeheim Court at the Carrier Dome and Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park.
It's a nice way of recognizing someone without changing the stadium's name. But now some of Dean's former players want the field named for the beloved coach who passed away last April.
Dean has been honored in the past. There is a sign outside the stadium indicating a thoroughfare as Bob Dean Way, as well as a rock and a plaque. Most importantly, there is a Bob Dean scholarship, which to me is much more important than any physical tribute. Using Dean's memory as a way to further an individual's college education is an ultimate tribute.
Adams, who passed away in 1988, also has a plaque in his memory. But that's about it.
It would be a fitting tribute to name the field for Adams. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of his final season. He retired because he was suffering from cancer, which ended his life two years later.
I know each coach meant the world to his former players. Dean and Adams were winning coaches who epitomized class. It's good in a way that the Maroons have had such a great tradition. How many schools have two coaches worthy of such an honor?
It's noble that decades after playing for Dean and Adams, some of their former players still feel that strongly about them, they don't want either to be forgotten. Don't even use statistics as a way of deciding this. Numbers have nothing to do with this.
But I hope both Dean's and Adams' former players channel their efforts in a positive way.
And to be honest, the right way to handle this is to name it “Adams-Dean Memorial Field” and pay tribute to both men equally.
Both Dean and Adams are worthy of this honor but if you can't name it after both of them, leave it the way it is.
Or establish a scholarship in Adams' name and honor him the way Dean is.
If both Adams and Dean were alive, they would be disappointed to see Maroon players ever going against each other.
Name it “Adams-Dean Memorial Field” and honor them the right way.
Sciria, The Citizen's sports editor, can be reached at citizensports@lee.net
That first class included former Auburn High football coaches Bob Dean and Bob Adams. Both were special men who coached hundreds of players over five decades.
Now it looks like some of their former players are going to wage a turf war over the field where both men coached the Maroons.
The issue is the field's name, or lack of one. The stadium itself is already named for former Auburn High player Dr. Jerome “Brud” Holland, who after starring for the Maroons in the 1930s, was a college All-American at Cornell and a U.S. ambassador and college president.
There has been a recent trend of naming playing surfaces after the stadium's name has already been taken. So we have the Jim Boeheim Court at the Carrier Dome and Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park.
It's a nice way of recognizing someone without changing the stadium's name. But now some of Dean's former players want the field named for the beloved coach who passed away last April.
Dean has been honored in the past. There is a sign outside the stadium indicating a thoroughfare as Bob Dean Way, as well as a rock and a plaque. Most importantly, there is a Bob Dean scholarship, which to me is much more important than any physical tribute. Using Dean's memory as a way to further an individual's college education is an ultimate tribute.
Adams, who passed away in 1988, also has a plaque in his memory. But that's about it.
It would be a fitting tribute to name the field for Adams. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of his final season. He retired because he was suffering from cancer, which ended his life two years later.
I know each coach meant the world to his former players. Dean and Adams were winning coaches who epitomized class. It's good in a way that the Maroons have had such a great tradition. How many schools have two coaches worthy of such an honor?
It's noble that decades after playing for Dean and Adams, some of their former players still feel that strongly about them, they don't want either to be forgotten. Don't even use statistics as a way of deciding this. Numbers have nothing to do with this.
But I hope both Dean's and Adams' former players channel their efforts in a positive way.
And to be honest, the right way to handle this is to name it “Adams-Dean Memorial Field” and pay tribute to both men equally.
Both Dean and Adams are worthy of this honor but if you can't name it after both of them, leave it the way it is.
Or establish a scholarship in Adams' name and honor him the way Dean is.
If both Adams and Dean were alive, they would be disappointed to see Maroon players ever going against each other.
Name it “Adams-Dean Memorial Field” and honor them the right way.
Sciria, The Citizen's sports editor, can be reached at citizensports@lee.net